A United XI and Scunthorpe shared the spoils in a keenly-contested friendly at Glanford Park in front of the watching Sir Alex Ferguson.
Nick Powell scored his first goal since joining the club in the summer to cancel out Mark Duffy's first-half strike past former Iron loanee Sam Johnstone, who received a warm welcome on his return to the club.
Federico Macheda had the ball in the net in only the third minute but the lone striker was flagged offside and jeered for much of the first half for smashing a volley over the bar when the whistle had already sounded. United pressed without really penetrating the home defence as Sam Slocombe fielded a Jesse Lingard shot and found a Powell drive too hot to handle after the ex-Crewe man unloaded a fierce drive.
Although Johnstone had made a couple of punches, the opening goal was somewhat against the run of play but superbly worked. Mike Grella won possession and fed Bobby Grant, who turned Michael Keane before teeing up Duffy for an emphatic finish that lifted the home crowd.
The Reds tried to respond but Davide Petrucci fired tamely at Slocombe after a neat spin and Bebe pulled an effort wide after Petrucci won a crunching tackle in midfield. Robbie Gibbons went to ground easily under minimal contact from Marnick Vermijl so the referee Darren Drysdale rightly refused half-hearted penalty claims and Bebe's hopeful poke straight at Slocombe ended the first period in terms of entertainment.
In a dramatic start to the second half, Petrucci and Macheda set up Powell for a stinging shot that brought the very best out of Slocombe, who dived to his right to pull off a marvellous save. Scunthorpe had a much clearer shout for a penalty turned down when Grella was sent tumbling by Keane's over-zealous challenge with referee Drysdale again waving 'play on'.
The Reds capitalised and levelled the scores with 54 minutes gone. Bebe cut inside to feed Lingard and the wiry winger intelligently helped the ball on again for Powell to spank a terrific finish past Slocombe in another illustrating of his shooting prowess.
The visitors also had a penalty shout rejected when Vermijl felt he was tripped inside the box while Macheda rammed a decent opening wide from an angle. Grant snatched at a rare chance although The Iron did look dangerous on the break at times while Petrucci blasted over when a Bebe cross fell into his path just outside the area before handing over the captain's armband to Scott Wootton.
Wootton had to make one saving clearance and Connor Jennings tested Johnstone's reflexes late on as Scunthorpe finished strongly but Lingard almost won it at the death when his shot was cleared off the line and both teams will take plenty from the 1-1 draw.
United: Johnstone; Vermijl (Cole 81), M.Keane, Wootton, Brady; Bebe, Tunnicliffe, Powell, Petrucci (King 85), Lingard; Macheda. Subs not used: Sutherland, Giverin, Veseli, Blackett.
